Gas stove control panel



De@ 3, 1953 D. P. o'KEEl-'E GAS s'rovE CONTROL. PANEL Filed uarcn 9, 1945 m u.. .K 0 p. m M

Afro/PNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFI-16Ey GAS sTovE CONTROL PANEL Daniel P. oxeere, Los Ang/cies, Calif. Application March 9, 1945, Serial No. 581,890

'I'his invention relates to stove construction and has particular reference to features of construction that can be incorporated advantageously in modern cooking stoves or ranges such as are commonly termed console type stoves.

The usual stove or range of the type referred to is a box-like structure including one or more cooking compartments such as broilers or ovens, and a top or upper burner compartment carrying a plurality of burners at the top of the stove. The front of such a stove is usually ilat, -or-sub- 6 Claims. (Cl. 126-39) stantially so, and is formed for the most part by the doors of the cooking compartmentsand by a panel at the front of the burner compartment, which panel carries instruments and the various control elements whereby the burnersV of the stove are controlled and regulated. In practice the doors of the cooking compartments are seldom perfectly tight and Whenever the cooking Anotherl object of this invention is to provide' a stove front includinga baiiie or heat deflecting element between the cooking compartments and the control elements at the panel.`

It is a further object of this invention to provide a stove of the general character' referred to having a heat deflecting element or baille at the panel at lthe upper front portion of thelstove" immediately below the control members or knobs. which project from the panel, which baiileserv'es to effectively deflect heat'flowing up at `the front of the stove so ythat the control 'elements are protected therefrom.

Another objectuof this invention' is lto provide' a novelv panel cor'istructiony for ,the panel of a l stove' ywhich carries the; control elements of l' The varic'iusy objects `,an elfeai'tures fof my'ginven-fj tion wm. be'funy.understood'nomine-re1pw@ detailed description y of ya typical I preferred l, form andV application,` Aof my invention'jthrpughout.

which lc'lescriptiori reference is "to 't wavering. @meg-S. .m .wem r Fig. 1 is a. perspectiveview of the upper portion of a typical stove showing one form of my present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed transverse sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 1, being a. view taken substantially as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1.

- The construction that I have provided by mypresent invention is applicable, generally, to

stoves or kitchen ranges. However, it is particularly practical and useful in connection with stoves of the type ordinarily known as console type and. therefore, 'I have throughout the drawings shown it applied to this type stove. VIt is to be understood that'the invention can be applied to stoves of various types or styles and that it can -be applied to stoves employing various fuels. For instance, it'can be used to advantage on oil stoves, electric stoves and also on gas stoves.

The stove illustrated in the drawing being of typical console type is aj box-like structure involving, generally, a front A, sides B, atop C, and various other parts common or incidental to structures of this character. kIt is characteristic of console type stoves that the front, be formed of various parts which are substantially flat and flush one with the other. In accordance with common stove construction I,ha`ve illus-` trated the front A formed mainly by two doors Il) and Il which cover lower or cooking com` partments of the stove, there being a panel I2y arranged across the upper portion of the stove immediately above the doors. The stove that I have chosen to illustrate is [of vcommon design and has hinged covers I3 'forming the topC vand these covers t or .recess into the upper edge portion of the panel l2, as shown at I4 in Fig. 2

to, form ay neat construction at the upper forward corner of the stove.` It is tobe understood that the invention can be applied with equal advan'- tage to a stove inl which the top isflxed so that there are no ,hinged cover parts.. v

In the particular stove-illustrated..there iare twolower or cooking compartments and yfor Vpurrpose of example ione'of.theseinayVIV be considered` anfovenl/ and the `'other al broiler, it beingumderstjood`,1,lfu'iwei/er,u that 'the n s'ltoyel may,v involve f butky 1 tion.v fIn the draw the. cooking. compartment =111si@mangentenneagram i numeral `.`I'5 and inayly,y be `conside red* either a broilf Immediately above the cooking compartments there is an upper or burner compartment I3 in the front of which is `covered by the panel I2. The compartment I6 accommodates the usual burners (not shown) and may be shaped and proportioned to accommodate the necessary structural elements incidental to the burners. It is to be understood that the interior of the stove can be divided into the various desired compartments through suitable partitions. In the drawing, a partition Il is shown separating the cooking compartment I from the upper or burner compartment I 6.

In accordance with common stove construction a gas manifold I3 extends across the front of the stove through the forward portion of the compartment;- i6. The manifold I8 supplies suitable gas valves or cocks I9 employed to distribute gas to mixing devices 20 which conduct it to burners located in the compartment I6 as desired. In accordance with common stove construction the stems 2| jof the cocks I9 project through the panel I2 and carry operating members or knobs 22. They operating knobs being thus located at the front of the panel I2 which is located at the upper portion of the front of the stove are conveniently accessible for operation. In addition to the operating knobs other control elements such as a heat control means 23, or. the like, may be provided on the front of the panel I2. When I refer to a control element I mean to include not only knobs for operating gas cocks or for operating electrical controls.

y but any sort of control member that may be required or desired in a structure oi the character under consideration.

In accordance with my present invention I provide a baille or deflector at the front of the stove between the control elements above described and the lower or cooking compartments. In the preferred form of the invention the deiiector that I provide is located at the panel I2. In fact, it may be incorporated in or as a part of the panel, as shown.

The defiector that I have provided is not only at the panel but is formed or incorporated as a 4facilitates application of the panel to a frame element of the stove construction. A downwardly offset flange 36 projects from the top edge portion 33 of the panel and serves to connect the panel with a frame member 31 and to form a rest at I4 for the reception of the tops or covers I3.

The lower section of the panel I2 is a at, vertically disposed part, preferably located to be substantially flush with the front of the doors III and II which are below it. The upper section of the panel may be a fiat, plain part, but instead of ,being vertically disposed itk extends downwardly and outward or forward from the top edge portion 33, and in the design illustrated, it extends downward to a point about midway between the top and bottom edges of the panel.

The middle or intermediate section 32 of the panel joins the lower or projecting edge of the upper section 3l with the upper edge of the lower section 30 and is disposed so that it extends upwardly and outwardly in the course of connecting these edges. ,The intermediate section of the panel is the baille that I have provided and in its preferred form it is made concave, as shown in the drawing, so that it is eiective in deecting heat outwardly as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1.

The panel I2 may be integrally provided with end walls 38 which provide closures for the compartment I6. These walls may be rounded over to blend into the range side walls B or may be nat as shown and disposed slightly inwardly of said range side walls.

In practice the panel that I have `iust described may be built up orfabricated in any suitable manner. However, I prefer to form it of a single body or sheet of material. preferably sheet metal, so that it is entirely free of seams or joints. 'Ihis construction or formation of the panel is particularly advantageous since such part of the stove is commonly coated with vitreous enamel and such covering is often. diilicult to apply to jointed constructions. s

With the panel I2 formed as I have described, there is a cavity or chamber 40 formed in the panel from its rear side, and in the preferred construction the manifold above described is located in this cavity. With this arrangement it is a simple matter to arrange the cocks IB in an angular position on the manifold I8 so that the stems 2| project upwardly and outwardly through suitable openings 42 in the upper section 3i of the panel, so that they are perpendicular to the upper section of the panel. 'I'he knobs or control elements 22 applied to the projecting stems 2l, being at the sloping face of the upper section 3| of the panel, are effectively protected against heat flowing up the front of the stove as they are clearly out of the path of the heat, the path of the heat having been effectively deiiected bythe intermediate or baille section 32 of the panel.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of my invention, I do not Wish to be limited or restricted to the specillc details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variations or modications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A stove including a cooking compartment having a front opening, a door at the front of the stove normally closing the opening, a xed upwardly and inwardly extending panel at the front of the stove above the door, a control element at the front of the panel, and a xed heat defiector between the top of the opening and said panel in the path of heat flowing up from the opening at the front of the stove and directing such heat forward and away from the stove and clear of the control element, the deflector being curved upward and forward to have a concave heat directing surface and the forward portion of the panel being contiguous with the forward portion of the deilector and forming an acute angle therewith.

2. A control panel for the front of a stove having a control element, a cooking compartment open at the front of the stove, and a door normally closing the compartment including, a substantially fiat fixed upwardly and inwardly extending portion at the front of the stove above the door mounting the control element, and a xed heat deflector between the opening and said upwardly and inwardly extending portion of the panel in the path of heat flowing up from the opening at the front of the stove and directing such heat forward and' away from the stove and clear of the control element, the deflector being curved upward and forward to have a concave heat directing face and the forward upper edge of the deflector being faced upward and forward of the stove and contiguous with the forward lowei` edge of the said upwardly and inwardly extending portion of the panel.

3. A stove including, a cooking compartment having an access opening at the front of the stove, a door at the front of the stove closing the opening, a downwardly and outwardly xed panel at the front of the stove above the door, a control element at the front of thev panel, and a fixed concave heat deflector above the door and projecting forward of the door when the door is closed, the deector being between the opening and said panel in the path of heat nowing from the compartment through the opening and directing such heat forward and away from the stove and clear ofthe control element, the panel and deilector joining to establish a forwardly facing sharp corner, the stove being free of structure forward of said corner for free 110W of heat. away from the stove.

4. A stove including a cooking compartment, a door at the front of the stove closing the compartment, a fixed panel at the front of the stove above the door in the path of heat flowing up from the compartment at the front of the stove and having a substantially flat upwardly and inwardly extending upper portion, and a control element at the front of the upper portion of the panel, the panel having a. lower portion joined to the upper portion and having a concave part projecting u'pward and forward below said upper portion forming a heat deflector, the lower portion having an upwardly and forwardly facing edge which joins the lower outer edge of the upper portion of the panel forming an acute angle therewith.

5. A stove including a cooking compartment. a door at the front of the stove closing the compartment, a xed panel at the front of the stove above and forward of the door in the path of heat flowing up from the compartment at the front of the stove, and a control element at the front of the panel, the panel having a substantially flat lower vertically disposed section extending upwardly from the said compartment,

a substantially flat upper downwardly and fcrwardly pitched section at which the said element is located, and an intermediate section having a heat directing concave portionv extending upward and outward, said intermediate section extending from the upper edge of the lower section to join the lower edge of the upper section and form a forwardly facing sharp corner therewith, the stove being free of structure forward of said corner.

6. A stove including a cooking compartment, a door at the front'of the Stove closing the compartment, a fixed panel at the front of the stove above the door and forward of the compartment. and a control element at the front of the panel, the panel being formed of a contirious sheet of material having a substantially fiat lower vertically disposed section extending upwardly from the compartment, an upper substantially flat downwardly and forwardly pitched section at which the said element is located and a substantially concave intermediate section extending upward and outward from the lower section to the lower edge of the upper section.

DANIEL P. OKEEFE.

References cited m the me or this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Jan. 6, 1936 Number Number 

